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Summary A 5,500-year-old tomb possibly belonging to a Stone Age chieftain has been unearthed.
It was found at a megalithic monument in the shape of a ship called the Ales Stenar (Ales Stones). The tomb, in Sweden, was likely robbed of stones to build the Viking-era ship monument.We found traces — mostly imprints — of large boulders, said lead archaeologist Bengst Söderberg of the Swedish National Heritage Board.So my conviction is that some of the stones at least, they are standing on the ship setting.Perched on a seaside cliff in the village of Kåseberga stands the Ales Stenar, also called Ales Stones, 59 massive boulders arranged in the 220-foot (67-meter)-long outline of a ship.Most researchers believe the 1,400-year-old ship structure is a burial monument built toward the end of Swedens Iron Age.Local legend has it that the mythic King Ale lies beneath the site.The Ales Stenar megaliths, some of which weigh as much as 4,000 pounds (1,800 kilograms), have distinctive cut marks similar to ones found at Stone Age sites.In 2006, archaeologists used magnetic sensors and radar to map the areas underground terrain and found a larger circular structure about 541 feet (165 m) in diameter, with a 65-foot by 25-foot rectangle at its heart.Last week, the team finally dug a small trench through the center of the circle and unearthed the imprints of giant boulders that had been removed long ago.Though the team didnt find a skeleton, the imprints suggested the site was a Neolithic burial chamber called a dolmen — several upright stones with a horizontal boulder on top in which a body would be placed.
